


The Underground

by veLEvet



Category: LOONA (Korea Band), Momoland (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Character Death, Cyberpunk, F/F, Non-Graphic Violence, Slow Burn, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-27 20:37:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19797334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veLEvet/pseuds/veLEvet
Summary: The impossible happens: after meeting their untimely demises, Nancy & Hyunjin are given a second chance at life. All they have to do is survive a seven-day game, and they might live again. The only thing is— they have to work together.





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> this is gonna be a long one... chapter numbers subject to change depending on how much i fit into one chapter but here's my rough guess.

The first sound that fills her ears is car horns. The onslaught of pedestrians’ conversations, crossing lights, and footsteps hits her shortly after.

Nancy opens her eyes slowly, letting out a soft groan. She sees people walking around her on the crosswalk, and once realization sets in, she jolts upright, sitting up on the pavement. She's dead in the center of the crosswalk, yet no one pays her any heed, merely walking around her, like she doesn't even exist.

Something falls into her lap from where it was resting on her chest while she was on the ground, and Nancy looks down. A small pin rests on her leg– black and with a skull insignia on the front. Confused, Nancy picks it up, wondering to herself where on earth she got that from, but as soon as her hand is around the pin, a harsh ringing resounds in her ears.

Nancy winces hard, squeezing her eyes shut and covering her ears with her headphones to drown out the noise. Strange voices, voices that do not belong to her, fill her head. It's only when she drops the pin from surprise at all of the noise does it all go away, and suddenly Nancy hears nothing again.

“What the…” Nancy mumbles, glancing down at the pin on the pavement. “Did you do that? What's going on here?!”

She glances quickly from side to side at all of the people walking around her, still ignoring her, utterly unaware of her existence. But she pushes past that in her mind for a moment, starting to recognize where she is.

“Songpa? How did I end up in Songpa?” Nancy mutters aloud, clenching her fists.

She knows better than to expect answers by just sitting around, so she pushes herself to her feet. She almost takes a step forward, but sees that pin right under her foot and stops. That pin is odd, but she figures it might be best just to take it along, especially before someone else takes it. She carefully picks it up off the ground, and surprisingly her ears don't ring the second time around with how delicately she carries it, and she slips it into her jean pocket.

Nancy starts walking, weaving her way through the crowds of people, but there's a man in a suit on the phone walking quickly, and Nancy notices him too late. She tries to step out of the way, but she knows she didn't move quick enough and anticipates the inevitable brush against her shoulder. Except, that never happens. The man just walks straight through her, and Nancy doesn't feel a thing.

Nancy’s eyes widen and she stops, astounded into silence. She looks over herself in disbelief, and when she looks up, another pedestrian walks straight towards her, phasing through her without a clue.

Nancy notices how all the pedestrians walk right through her, like she isn't even there.

“What kinda sick dream is this…” Nancy groans.

Even if all the pedestrians aren't running into her, being around so many people is proving to be too bothersome for her. Nancy steps out into a clearing at the center crossing, relishing the breathing room and lack of people around for a second. Just when she's relaxed a little, she feels a vibration coming from her boot, sighing when she realizes it's her phone.

“Hmph, didn't know the dream world had reception…” Nancy sneers, taking her phone out of her left boot and seeing the message from an unknown number.

**Reach the Lotte World Tower.**

**You have 60 minutes.**

**Fail, and face erasure.**

**— The Reapers.**

“Huh. Not even my dreams are safe from spam,” Nancy rolls her eyes and deletes the message, locking her phone and preparing to stuff it back into her boot. However, her phone vibrates again before she could put it back, and Nancy looks to see that the message is back.

“Persistent, much?”

Suddenly a sharp pain strikes in her free hand, and Nancy drops her phone from surprise, clutching onto her wounded hand and letting out a shriek. She clenches her hand to try and make the pain go away, and when she opens her hand once it subsides, she sees red markings written across her palm.

**59:59… 59:58… 59:57… 59:56… 59:55…**

“W-What kinda messed up dream–” Nancy grits her teeth, staring down at her hand before her gaze drifts to her phone on the ground. She shouldn't be feeling this much pain in a dream without waking up, and she has a feeling that the timer on her hand has to do with that message she got. This has to be real, but Nancy couldn't be more confused as to what's going on.

“ _Why_ can't I remember anything? How did I end up in Songpa of all places? And what the hell kind of twisted joke is this?!”

Before Nancy even has the opportunity to complain more, red sigils appear on the pavement right in front of Nancy’s feet, and Nancy jumps back in shock. It's a good thing she does, because green monster emerge from the red sigils, staring Nancy down.

“Frogs aren't supposed to jump out of the pavement…” Nancy weakly trails off, taking slow steps back, holding her arms out defensively to pacify the frog monsters. “Easy…”

Her attempt at ‘pacifying’ the monsters doesn't work in the slightest, as the frogs move closer and closer with every step Nancy takes back.

Nancy, knowing full well she isn't the calming type, knows exactly when to cut her losses and she immediately darts off in the other direction as fast and as far away from the frogs as possible.

This only agitates the frog monsters, and Nancy can hear them pursue her. It takes just one glance over her shoulder to see how fast they're moving and gaining on her, and that just motivates Nancy to start sprinting even harder.

Fortunately Nancy doesn't have to worry about pushing and shoving her way through the crowds, seeing as she just phases through everyone in front of her. She still closes her eyes and braces for impact every time she gets near someone from habit, but she's forced to open her eyes when she hears a collection of loud, piercing screams in front of her.

The frog monsters suddenly leap over Nancy and towards a crowd of fleeing people, letting Nancy slow herself to a halt now that she isn't the target. She gets a few seconds to catch her breath, but the sight that unfolds in front of her causes that breath to leave her again.

The frog monsters wrap their tongues around the fleeing teenagers in front of Nancy, squeezing them until each and every person evaporated into thin air, fizzling into non-existence.

Nancy’s eyes shoot wide at the sight, and she feels her whole body tense with fear at what she just saw.

“Did they just… _die_?”

At least twenty people are destroyed by the frog monsters, and Nancy remains rooted in place as she watches, unable to tear her eyes away, unable to will her feet to take her as far away from this nightmare.

A large shout different from the petrified screams that fill Nancy’s ears reaches her, yet Nancy’s so dazed and in shock from what she sees to register it. It takes someone grabbing onto her arm and shaking her shoulder for Nancy to realize she's being spoken to, but even then, Nancy’s still not fully there.

“Hey! What are you doing just standing here?!” A girl shouts at Nancy. Nancy can barely make out the words because of the headphones covering her ears. She just stares at this girl, looking over her deep brown hair, delicate features, and a tiny mole by the corner of her left eye— though Nancy doesn't really register what she's looking at very well, either.

Nancy slowly pulls down the headphones from her ears to rest around her neck, her mouth slightly agape. “What…?”

That catches the girl off-guard, but she shakes her head, figuring it not important. “Just– never mind that! Forge a pact with me! Hurry!”

Nancy snaps out of it when she hears the nonsense this girl is speaking. “What.” Nancy says flatly.

“Please!” The girl’s eyes turn desperate, and she clutches onto Nancy’s arm even harder. “It's the only way we can get rid of those Daemons!”

“ _Huh_?” Nancy scrunches her nose.

The girl points at the frog monsters, all of which are suddenly turning their attention to Nancy and the other girl. “Those things! Listen, just– trust me! Don't you want to survive?!”

When put on the spot like _that_ and with her life seemingly on the line, Nancy has little option to say no. “…Fine, whatever. Do what you want.”

A wave of relief washes over the girl as she steps back and nods, clasping her hands together and closing her eyes in concentration. Nancy just watches her with suspicious eyes, thinking the girl is off her rocker. But when her vision gets clouded with a white flash and she closes her eyes and rubs them, Nancy opens them again to see that the frogs are walking away from them, on towards some new target.

“They're… leaving us alone?” Nancy muses to herself.

“Those Daemons only go after Players who aren't pactbound,” the girl says, smiling a little from relief. “Thanks for partnering up with me. I’m Hyunjin.”

“I’m leaving,” Nancy sighs, turning away and walking off.

“Wha– hey! No!” Hyunjin runs until she's in front of Nancy, cutting her off. Nancy sends her a glare, none too amused. “You can't just go walking off! Didn't you see the mission? We have to reach Lotte World Tower?”

“‘We’?” Nancy repeats dryly, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, _we_!” Hyunjin huffs. “We’re partners now! We have to play the Game together!”

“I'm not a kid anymore. I don't do games,” Nancy says in a finite voice, brushing past Hyunjin.

Hyunjin grabs ahold of Nancy’s wrist as she walks by. She lifts Nancy's arm so she can see her hand. “You got the timer! Whether you like it or not, you're a Player in this Game, and you're my partner by rules of the pact! If you want a second chance at living again, then you _gotta_ join me and finish the mission!”

For a split second, Nancy’s anger at being stopped vanishes when Hyunjin says something that catches her attention in particular. “You mean I _died_?” Nancy blurts out, eyes widening.

Hyunjin’s hardened expression relaxes a bit. The news she's planning to give is somehow harder than she imagined saying. “Yeah. You're dead. _We’re_ dead. And this Game is the only chance we have to live again, or else we’ll be erased… forever.”

“Wow,” Nancy says in a sarcastic drawl. “You really put the dramatic effect on that one, huh?”

Hyunjin furrows her eyebrows, letting out a soft, tired sigh. “Are you always so rude?”

“I don’t have time to deal with people who annoy me,” Nancy says dismissively.

“Lovely…” Hyunjin sighs again, though she shakes her head and tries to shrug it off. She knows her priorities and what it is she needs to be focusing on. “…Come on. We need to get to the tower. We’re running out of time.”

“Fine,” Nancy closes her eyes and runs a hand through her hair. “Lead the way, _partner_.”

Hyunjin keeps her gaze low and wraps her arms around herself, holding something close to her chest.

Nancy doesn't pay her any heed, instead she just pulls out her phone from her boot again. She tries to use her internet browser, but there's no reception on her phone. She puffs her cheeks and grumbles under her breath, shoving her phone back into her boot. Closing her eyes, Nancy lets out a sigh and keeps walking, but her foot catches on something and she stumbles forward.

Except, when she stumbles forward, she doesn't fall to the ground as expected. Nancy runs right into a wall, stopping her fall but disorienting her nonetheless.

“Ow…” Nancy mumbles, rubbing her head and stepping back. She opens her eyes and is surprised to see that the wall that she ran into there doesn't exist. There's nothing standing in her way.

“What happened?” Hyunjin asks, a few steps behind Nancy. She soon discovers for herself, when she reaches Nancy’s side, suddenly pressing right into a wall that doesn't exist.

Or, at least, isn't visible.

Nancy reaches out and she feels a pressure against her hand. She pushes forward more, but she's met with equal resistance.

“An invisible wall?” Hyunjin says, banging her fist against the clear barrier. “This is the only way to Lotte World Tower! What are we gonna do now?”

Nancy turns away with a huff; Hyunjin’s being much too loud for her taste. Nancy glances around, exhaling deeply, when she's suddenly met with a disturbing gut feeling that she's being watched.

Nancy tenses and looks around a little more bristly, trying to figure out why she has that awful hunch. Something catches her eye in the moving crowds— a man in a red hoodie, hood up, standing at the corner of the crosswalk as the people walk past him. While his eyes are obscured by the shadows cast by his hood, he faces Nancy and Hyunjin’s direction, and his vibes leave Nancy with a bitter taste in her mouth.

“I don't have a good feeling about this…” Nancy mumbles to Hyunjin, who's still banging on the wall, as if that would help.

“Neither do I! We're being sabotaged!” Hyunjin growls from frustration.

Nancy rolls her eyes, annoyed, but she just clenches her fists and keeps her eyes on the red figure.

The red figure reaches his wrist towards his mouth, speaking into it.

“Pact confirmed. Initiating the trial.”

The red sigils from before appear on the ground by Nancy and Hyunjin, and the green frog monsters shoot out of the sigils.

“Frogs!” Nancy yelps, taking a step back.

“Daemons!” Hyunjin says wearily, clenching her fists.

“Demons, frogs, whatever!” Nancy says in a panic. “I thought you said we were safe from these things since we had a pact!”

“W-We are!” Hyunjin stammers. “At least, from the Rogue Daemons! These ones are different! They have black wings!”

“Ohhhh, riiiiight. That just clears everything up! My bad!” Nancy growls. “Well, these not-rogue demons don't seem to be running away despite our pact, so what are we gonna do, huh? Am I gonna have to kick one of them?”

Hyunjin looks at Nancy with an agitated look, but she digs into her pocket and pulls something out, giving it to Nancy. “Here, we’re supposed to use these things to fight the Daemons!”

Nancy takes the object from Hyunjin and looks at it, seeing how it's another pin with a lightning design. “Oh. Great. At least I'll die looking like a damn nerd.”

Hyunjin groans at how unbearable Nancy’s being. “They have powers, you know! Try it!”

The pin attaches itself to Nancy’s shirt, and for some reason Nancy indulges in Hyunjin’s little fantasy, even just to prove her wrong. With a roll of her eyes, Nancy directs her palm at one of the frog monsters, and to her surprise a burst of lightning shoots out from her hand and turns the monster into dust.

“Wait, _what_?!” Nancy’s eyes shoot wide from surprise.

Nancy catches herself after a moment of surprise, knowing she can't afford to let her guard down, especially when the Daemons are trying to avenge their fallen. Nancy takes aim at the other frogs, releasing more bolts of lightning to eliminate them. The numbers thin out, and eventually the frogs vanish.

Nancy’s eyes scan the area to see if they're safe, and Nancy spots a small black cat mutant standing on the road.

“Hang on,” Nancy tells Hyunjin. “There's still one left.”

Hyunjin raises an eyebrow, not seeing anything, but she follows Nancy’s line of sight and gasps when she catches on. Before Nancy can use her lightning pin, Hyunjin jumps in front of the black cat and wraps her arms around it, protecting it with her body.

“Hey, hey! Mr. Mew isn't a Daemon! Don't hurt him!” Hyunjin says, panicked.

Nancy furrows her eyebrows. “‘Mr. Mew’?”

“He's part of my pin!” Hyunjin says. “My pin lets me animate objects and get them to fight for me! And… And he's my favorite stuffed animal! I sewed him myself!”

Nancy’s face drops into a deadpan, and she lowers her hand with an annoyed look. “Aren't you a little old to be playing with stuffed animals?”

“Aren't you a little old to suffer from constant temper tantrums?” Hyunjin shoots back.

Nancy gasps, offended. But otherwise she looks towards the tower and takes a step forward, finding that the wall is gone. She just keeps walking, not particularly caring if Hyunjin follows.

Hyunjin hurriedly runs after Nancy when she sees her walking away, joining Nancy’s side. Nancy lets out an annoyed breath, but otherwise doesn't say anything.

The silence, however, isn't something Hyunjin wants to keep.

“You were pretty good with that pin earlier,” Hyunjin says, tucking some hair behind her ear. “Lucky me, getting a partner who's a natural at psychs.”

“Do you ever say anything that makes sense?” Nancy sighs.

“Psychs are the powers in the pins, wise guy,” Hyunjin says. “Well, you might as well keep it. I couldn't use it no matter how hard I tried. Only my Animation pin works.”

“Thanks,” Nancy says sarcastically.

“You know,” Hyunjin starts. “You should've gotten some pins at the start of the Game. What, did you throw them all away because you thought they were lame?”

Nancy rolls her eyes. “Surprisingly, no. I didn't see any, except for a skull one that lets me hear things.”

“That's your Player Pin. I’m talking about psych pins,” Hyunjin says. “I found mine in my pockets.”

Nancy looks at Hyunjin, hesitant to believe her, but she slowly reaches into her pockets and pulls out a few pins. “Oh.”

Hyunjin looks at the pins in Nancy’s hands, studying them. Nancy looks them over too, but much more intensely, her other hand hovering over them.

Nancy picks up one of the pins and throws it over her shoulder. “That one looks stupid.”

“Wha– hey!” Hyunjin quickly reaches out and catches the pin. “Don't throw them away! Who knows, I might be able to use one of these!”

“Fine, have at it,” Nancy says, distracted. The remaining pins in her hand all seem to be light-based, based on the white designs. The one Hyunjin holds has a shield on it, and she pockets it, hoping she might be able to use it.

Within a few more minutes, Hyunjin and Nancy reach the Lotte World Tower, and Hyunjin looks down at her hand, noticing how the timer is gone.

“We did it!” Hyunjin says excitedly. “We cleared the mission!”

“Well, of course you did. It would take a real idiot to fail a mission as easy as this one,” a voice says, yet it belongs to neither Nancy or Hyunjin.

Nancy’s eyes fall upon a pink-haired woman with a sly grin on her face, looking more than devilish. While the pink hair catches Nancy’s eye first, the thing that stands out the most about this woman is the black, skeleton wings that sprout from her back.

“A Reaper…” Hyunjin warns Nancy, getting into a defensive stance and clenching her fists. Nancy doesn't move, only narrowing her eyes on the mystery woman.

“An _officer_ among Reapers, at that. The name’s Joowon,” the Reaper says. “Even if this mission was easy, I still nabbed myself a ton of points eliminating worthless Players like you.”

“Good for you,” Nancy says dryly.

“You two’ve got some moxy, I'll admit that,” Joowon says. “I’m sure I'll see you again. Later, losers!”

Joowon vanishes without a trace, leaving Nancy and Hyunjin on their own. Hyunjin relaxes and looks back at Nancy, drawing in a breath. “Great. Now we've got the officers’ eyes on us.”

“Oh, whatever,” Nancy huffs, crossing her arms. “They're all talk. She wouldn't even fight us.”

Hyunjin just lets out a soft hum to that. “You know, I found out a Reaper’s name before I even found out my own partner’s name. I told you mine. The least you could do is tell me yours.”

Nancy lets out a sigh. “Nancy. It's Nancy.”

Hyunjin flashes a smile. “I’ll remember that.”

Nancy just runs a hand through her hair and looks off to the side quickly. “What does it matter, anyways? We finished the mission, right? That means we won, so… this stupid game is over.”

Hyunjin blinks at Nancy, her lips slowly parting. “Nancy… We didn't win the Game. Not yet.”

“What, do we have to wait until those sixty minutes passed fully?” Nancy asks.

Hyunjin slowly takes her head. “That was only day one of the Game, Nancy… The Reapers’ Game lasts seven days.”

Nancy’s eyes widen from surprise as a sinking dread settles in her stomach.

She has to put up with this for seven days?!


	2. Day Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nancy and Hyunjin meet other Players.

It's really uncomfortable sleeping on the ground, Nancy realizes.

She slowly sits up, rubbing at her back with a wince. “Ugh… Again? This better not happen all seven days…”

“Oh, hey, you're up,” Hyunjin says, her eyes on her phone instead of Nancy.

Nancy looks Hyunjin over. “How are you not in pain right now…?”

“I’ve been awake for a little while,” Hyunjin says, flashing a smile. “Luckily I walked it all off already.”

Nancy blinks slowly, still tired, and looks around. “Where are we?”

“I think some kind of underpass. I don't really know– I tried looking for a way out, but I ran into a wall,” Hyunjin explains with a sigh, her gaze still lingering on her phone. “No mission text, either.”

Nancy stands up and stretches, still feeling a striking pain in her back. “Thank god… I can't work like this anyways…”

As if right then and there, Nancy’s phone buzzes and Hyunjin’s phone beeps, and Nancy lets out a sigh, knowing that it's the next mission.

**Destroy the curse of the statue.**

**You have 60 minutes.**

**Fail, and face erasure.**

**— The Reapers.**

“Come on, man,” Nancy groans. “Right as I said I couldn't work like this— _yowch_!”

Nancy’s cut off by the timer zapping onto her hand, and Hyunjin winces too. Hyunjin lets out a sigh and puts her phone away, wrapping her arms around her Mr. Mew plush.

“There's a wall by the exit. I don't know how we’re gonna get out of here,” Hyunjin says weakly.

“That's just great,” Nancy huffs, shoving her hands into her pockets. She starts walking away, paying Hyunjin little mind.

“Where are you going?” Hyunjin asks, a little annoyed. “I told you, I couldn't find a way out.”

“ _You_ couldn't,” Nancy sneers. “ _I_ haven’t tried looking yet.”

Hyunjin lets out a gruff sigh, kicking a pebble in front of her out of frustration.

Nancy walks forward a few paces, and she sees a red hooded figure in the shadows. She stops and narrows her eyes, remembering the last time she saw one right in front of Lotte Tower.

The figure steps forward out of the shadows towards Nancy. “Defeat all the Daemons in this area. Those are my terms.”

“Daemons?” Hyunjin appears at Nancy’s side, clutching Mr. Mew to her chest. “I looked all over this place. There aren’t any Daemons here.”

“The world is more than just what you see. Scan for them,” the man says before stepping back.

Nancy holds her arms out, a deadpan look on her face. “Great advice. I’ll get right on that.”

Hyunjin hums, looking down at something in her hand. She closes her hand around it and closes her eyes, focusing carefully. A few moments later, red sigils appear on the ground and summon the Daemons.

“Whoa–” Nancy steps back, raising her arm over herself defensively. “Where did those come from?!”

“I summoned them,” Hyunjin says, activating her pin and bringing Mr. Mew to life. “Get ready!”

Nancy looks at Hyunjin with a look that's crossed with horrified and confused, but she shakes that off when one of the porcupine Daemons nears her. She tries out some of her newer pins on these monsters, with one of the pins surrounding her hands and feet with light. She tries to take aim at one of the Daemons, but the light energy isn't a projectile. Instead, when a Daemon gets too close for comfort, Nancy just kicks it, sending it flying into the ceiling, where it is erased.

The entire underpass shakes as a result, and Nancy flinches. She did not expect her kick to be so lethal… but she guesses the light did that.

“Don't make the whole underpass collapse!” Hyunjin shouts.

“Hey, I'm just trying to figure out what all these pins can do since _you_ can't use them!” Nancy growls back.

Hyunjin groans to herself, focusing on directing Mr. Mew to uppercut one of the Daemons. “Deal with the Daemons first _before_ insulting me!”

Nancy rolls her eyes before returning her attention to the Daemons. She channels the energy of her Electrify psych, sparks crackling at her fingertips before shooting out from her hand, evaporating the monsters into dust.

Letting out a tired breath when she's finished with her batch, Nancy looks over to see how Hyunjin is almost through with her own, and she watches when Mr. Mew piledrives and erases a Daemon. Yet one remains, nearing Hyunjin, and Nancy reaches out her hand and shoots a bolt of lightning its way before it can touch Hyunjin, destroying it.

Hyunjin looks behind her when she hears the booming lightning, and her eyes catch Nancy’s, who's looking at her with her palm outstretched. Hyunjin realizes what’s happened, and she nods her head in thanks.

Nancy drops her hand to her sides and sinks to her knees, feeling exhausted from all the fighting she just did. Her psychs, while powerful, really drain all of her energy, and she's starting to realize the effects of overusing the pins so much. “Ugh… Look… I know you use other objects to fight, but you need to watch your six. The Daemons don't wanna kill your cute little plushie. They wanna kill us.”

Hyunjin nods slowly, and she looks down at her pins. “I might have something that can help protect me,” she says.

“Then use it,” Nancy says, letting out a heavy breath to try and level her breathing.

The man in red approaches the two of them once all the Daemons are gone, his hands in his pockets. “Objective met. Wall clear!”

The barrier blocking the exit vanishes, and Nancy and Hyunjin are finally able to leave. Nancy watched the hooded man as he walks off, and when his back is toward Nancy, she finally can see the black skeleton wings protruding from his shoulder blades.

“He must be a Reaper…” Nancy says. “So, Reapers are the ones who put up these walls we gotta clear…”

“Makes sense. It's their game,” Hyunjin shrugs.

Nancy pushes herself to her feet, a little worse for wear, but time is bringing her energy back. “How'd you summon them…?”

“The Reaper said to scan for them in a world bigger than what we see. When we use our Player Pins, we can see more of the world and hear more of it, too… I saw a floating sigil and called it closer, and then the Daemons appeared,” Hyunjin says simply.

“That skull thing?” Nancy asks, but she remembers how voices filled her head when she activated it on accident when she first woke up in Seoul. “I got it now… Okay. Good to know.”

Hyunjin nods. “Let's go. I’m seriously concerned this underpass is gonna collapse on us after your lightshow earlier.”

Nancy narrows her eyes and huffs. “Whatever. You're welcome for saving your hide, by the way.”

Hyunjin huffs too, and the two of them leave the underpass and work their way back to the busy areas of the Songpa district.

“So, we need to find the statue… Where should we start looking?” Hyunjin asks.

“Lotte World or Seokchon should have them…?” Nancy says, uncertain. “I don't know… I can't really remember.”

“Well… doesn't hurt to try,” Hyunjin says, focusing back on the walk ahead of them, only a few feet away from the entrance to Lotte World after a few minutes’ walk.

“I got you now!”

Nancy and Hyunjin stop at the voice, and they see a girl with blonde hair a few feet in front of them pointing their way, looking as angry as can be.

“You got us good yesterday, but I'm not letting it happen again!” The girl shouts their way.

Hyunjin just looks at Nancy with a dry look. “Let me guess. You came across her yesterday and found some way to royally piss her off. I'm not surprised.”

“What?! No!” Nancy protests, focusing back on the girl ahead of her. She looks her over, trying to see if she remembers her. She thinks she'd remember a girl with striking blonde hair in a ponytail, a choker, and a grey muscle tee, but she can't remember. “I have no idea who this chick is!”

“Need a hint? Why don't you ask your friends?” The girl growls.

“I think you got the wrong person,” Hyunjin steps in, gesturing to Nancy. “This girl doesn't seem like the type who does ‘friends.’”

“Yeah!” Nancy says, until Hyunjin’s words catch up to her. “I mean– hey!”

“Shut up!” The girl shouts again, an aura of fire raging around her that only grows with her anger. “I’m not falling for your tricks! I can't scan you, so that means you gotta be Reapers! And I'm not about to lose again to a bunch’a Reapers!”

The girl throws a punch into the air, and the fire surrounding her swirls around her arm and consolidates into a huge fireball that flies straight towards Nancy and Hyunjin.

Nancy hurriedly draws both hands to one side, trying to activate her Blast psych and conjure a ball of light in her hands, but being as drained as she is after that fight earlier, the ball she spawns pales in comparison to the sheer size of the fireball en route. Her eyes widen slightly at this realization, but Nancy prepares to launch the ball of light anyway, throwing all caution to the wind, but she's stopped from doing so when Hyunjin steps in front of her, blocking her from making the shot.

Nancy closes her eyes and braces for impact, but surprisingly, the impact never comes. She slowly opens her eyes again, seeing how Hyunjin stands behind a yellow translucent barrier that she summoned to protect them both. Nancy blinks from shock, surprised that Hyunjin dove in to protect her.

“We’re not Reapers! Cut it out!” Hyunjin shouts.

“Tch…” the girl groans, just looking annoyed. She clenches her fist, more fire sparking around her hand as she rears it back. “Whatever… Just know I don't miss twice–!”

“Jane, stop it!”

The girl– probably Jane –stops at the new voice, and the flames around her arm flicker out. “What?!”

Another girl, shorter than Jane with dark brown hair in two braids, grabs her arms and pulls her back. “Those two aren't Reapers! They're Players, like us!”

Jane’s eyes widen. “You're kidding! Come on, Daisy! We can't scan them! They gotta be with the Reapers!”

Daisy sets her hands on her hips and pouts her lips. “What, do I seem like a kidder to you? Look at them! They got Player Pins!”

Jane looks over at Nancy and Hyunjin, seeing how Hyunjin holds out her pin for her to see. Nancy, seeing this as her chance to prove she doesn't deserve another fireball to her face, fishes out her Player Pin from her pocket and shows it too.

Jane visibly untenses and averts her gaze to the ground, filled with regret. “S… Sorry… I thought–”

“We must not be able to scan other Players,” Daisy cuts her off. “I guess the pins protect us from being scanned.”

“That kinda makes sense, actually,” Hyunjin says, stepping forward to join Jane and Daisy.

Daisy glances over at Hyunjin and shows her a wide smile, waving at her. “Hiya!”

Hyunjin flashes a small grin. “Hey. It's nice to see more Players around.”

“Yeah…” Jane says, rubbing the back of her neck, keeping her gaze low. “It's a nice change of pace from all the Daemons and Reapers… Man, we got our asses handed to us yesterday by one of the officers… She kept summoning high level Daemons at us– we couldn't even get to Lotte World Tower!”

“Jane’s really strong, but even then… we couldn't do anything to stop her,” Daisy lets out a sigh.

“We ran into an officer yesterday too. She had pink hair… I think her name was Joowon?” Hyunjin says, tapping her chin. “But she didn't attack us. She just said some strange threats and left.”

“You got off lucky,” Jane sighs angrily. “Ours was like… Nayoung-something? I don't know. I was too busy tryna beat her into the ground.”

“Nayun, I think,” Daisy says. “She must've singled us out after we figured out that trick…”

Hyunjin raises an eyebrow. “What trick?”

“If you use two of the same pins, it just makes the psych stronger,” Daisy answers. “Why do you think Jane’s flames are so strong? She doubled up!”

Jane flashes a grin that doesn't quite meet her eyes, seemingly still upset she was beaten.

“Wait… Uh– no offense, but… if you guys didn't complete the mission, why are you still here?” Hyunjin asks carefully, not wanting to provoke Jane.

Jane grumbles and looks away, her pride wounded, but Daisy just smiles uneasily and focuses on Hyunjin. “I don't know… Our timers just disappeared. And then we woke up here today,” Daisy says.

“Our timers disappeared when we made it to Lotte Tower,” Hyunjin says. “It was about forty minutes in.”

“That's when ours disappeared too!” Daisy gasps. “Maybe… Maybe we all don't have to complete the missions, but if one Player does, then we all do?”

“That would explain it…” Jane says pensively, but she soon lights up with an idea and smiles. “Say, if that's true, maybe we could partner up and figure this mission out? If we all pass through regardless of who clears it, then we might be able to divide and conquer.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Hyunjin smiles.

“Oh, hey– we didn't even introduce ourselves,” Jane says. “I’m Jane, and this is my… my Game Partner, Daisy.”

Daisy nods and smiles even wider. “‘Sup!”

“I’m Hyunjin, and the girl hanging around back there like a loser is my Game Partner Nancy,” Hyunjin turns towards Nancy, who's standing a few feet away, staring at the sky. “What are you doing over there? Come on, get over here.”

“No thanks. I don't want another fireball to my face,” Nancy grumbles. “I’m staying back here where it's safe.”

Hyunjin lets out a sigh and turns back to Jane and Daisy. “Sorry for– her. She's… not exactly the happiest to be in the Game.”

“Don't worry, Jane tried to set everything on fire when she realized she was dead,” Daisy says with a flippant wave. “I found her rampaging, introduced myself, somehow got her to calm down, and then we forged a pact! I’m glad I met her, she's really strong!”

Hyunjin looks over at Jane during that, expecting her to look embarrassed by that story, but instead she sees how Jane casts her gaze to the ground, biting her cheek with a frown. Before Hyunjin can ask what's wrong, Nancy appears at her side, looking as bothered as always.

“We got thirty minutes left. We should probably get a move-on before we all, you know, _die_ ,” Nancy says flatly.

“Ain't gotta tell me twice…” Jane groans, rolling her shoulders. “Me n’ Daisy’ll cover Lotte World. You two take Seokchon. If one of us finds the cursed statue and clears the mission, then we’ll all win.”

“Have it your way. Let’s go,” Nancy walks off without even a second glance at the others.

“Man, what an attitude…” Jane mumbles to herself once Nancy’s gone.

Hyunjin, left in the dust again by Nancy going off on her own, sighs and looks down at her phone. “Tell me about it…”

Hyunjin runs off after a quick goodbye, catching up with Nancy, pouting her lips. “You know, you could stand to be a little less rude.”

“Why? I'm not here to please people. I’m here to win,” Nancy responds, not even sparing a glance towards Hyunjin.

“You keep walking off like you're gonna manage everything on your own, too– you do know you'd be dead without me, right? The least you could do is treat me with some respect,” Hyunjin counters.

“I'd be dead without you, which is why I put up with your incessant nagging,” Nancy says. “I don't owe you anything else.”

“We’re _partners_ , Nancy! Start treating me like one, and stop talking down to me like I'm so stupid! _I'm_ the one who figured out how to get out of that underpass!” Hyunjin growls. “Can't you just trust me to _help_ you?! I wanna win too, Nancy! I don't want to die! Even if you're such a brat, I _want_ to work with you to win! Can't you show me that same courtesy?!”

“God, just be quiet. We don't have time for this,” Nancy rolls her eyes. She comes to a halt, right in front of a statue in the park. “Here. A statue. Wanna exorcise it?”

Hyunjin balls her fists and has to hold back from letting out a frustrated growl. She lets out a deep, forceful breath to try and calm herself, but her words are still on edge when she speaks. “Sure,” she huffs, looking the statue over. “How would this thing be cursed?”

Nancy lets out a breath, lowering her gaze and stuffing her hands in her pockets, thinking things over. The statue looks fine to her, but that Reaper’s words ring in her ear as she stands there, wracking her mind for answers.

_The world is more than just what you see._

Nancy pulls out her Player Pin, running it through her fingers. She hesitates for a moment, remembering the trouble activating it put her through the first time, but now that she knows to expect it, she wonders if she can make it work…

Closing her hand over the pin, Nancy concentrates, and suddenly voices flood her mind again. She tries to sort through the voices and all the information that races through her mind, adjusting herself to the different Frequency the pin exposes her to. Even though her eyes are closed, she can still see the outlines of objects around her. She spots an orange sigil in orbit around the statue in front of her, giving off strange Vibes and threatening to disturb her Frequency.

“Get ready,” Nancy says, still focused on scanning. “I’m summoning the Daemons around the statue.”

“What?!” Hyunjin gawks. “Haven't you been listening to me brainstorm ideas?! You weren't paying attention?!”

“Finishing the mission,” Nancy grunts. “So stop whining and get ready!”

Hyunjin furrows her eyebrows, but she activates her Animation psych and Mr. Mew springs to life in her arms, jumping down to her feet. The orange sigil appears on their Frequency level, and numerous frog and porcupine Daemons jump out of the sigil.

“Take it easy, Nancy,” Hyunjin says in a warning, commanding Mr. Mew into battle. “Don't wear yourself out and become an easy target.”

Nancy activates her Electrify psych, electricity pouring from her fingertips. “I don't need you telling me what to do.”

Hyunjin clicks her tongue, but pushes that out of her mind to deal with the Daemons. She sends Mr. Mew after one of the frogs, and Mr. Mew erases the Daemon with a double-handed hammerfist right on top of the head.

Nancy stands still as she aims lightning bolts at the porcupine Daemons, erasing them with two strikes or less. The frogs on her end are a little more difficult to handle, since they keep jumping out of the way of her attacks. Nancy grits her teeth and growls, and she readies for another attack, but she watches how the frog makes its way towards Hyunjin.

“Watch your six!” Nancy shouts, her voice agitated at how Hyunjin is being careless and vulnerable again.

Hyunjin quickly activates her Barrier psych, creating a yellow shield that the frog jumps right into, causing it to fall to the ground. Nancy uses her Amplify psych to surround her leg in a white light and kicks the frog as hard as possible, sending it flying until it disappears in a fog.

Mr. Mew deals the finishing blow on the last Daemon, and Nancy and Hyunjin can rest easy for a moment. Nancy lets out a ragged breath, setting her hands on her knees and lowering her head.

“Thank god that's over…” Nancy mutters.

“I don't know…” Hyunjin says, looking at her hand. “The timer’s still here.”

“ _What_?! But we got rid of the Daemons around it! You mean that wasn’t the curse?!” Nancy shouts.

“How should I know?!” Hyunjin shoots back.

Nancy sets her hand to her forehead and then looks up at the sky, her tone flippant. “Oh, yeah. You wouldn't.”

Hyunjin ignores that entirely and looks back at the statue, setting her hands on her hips. “Anyways… As I was saying, but you obviously weren't listening– there's something… _different_ about this statue.”

“What, because it's a dog?” Nancy asks dryly.

“ _No_ ,” Hyunjin rolls her eyes. “You haven't seen this statue before when you've visited Seokchon?”

Nancy shakes her head. “I– I don't know. Maybe. I can’t remember.”

Hyunjin looks over at Nancy and furrows her eyebrows— not because of agitation or anger, but for once, concern. “You know… You can't remember a lot of things, and you know nothing about this Game. What's up with that?”

“The only thing I remember is my name. I don't know why I'm here or how I _got_ here,” Nancy admits with a stern huff. “All I know is I need to get out. I need to win.”

“You have amnesia?” Hyunjin asks.

“I’m definitely not suffering from dumb bitch syndrome,” Nancy huffs.

Hyunjin snorts, but it isn't out of annoyance for once. She actually seems kind of amused, but it doesn't last for long until she turns her attention back to the statue. “Well, I used to come to this park a lot, and… I don't know. The statue never looked like this. Now it just kind of looks… dirty.”

Nancy’s face falls into a deadpan. “Oh, the curse is some dirt and rust. I see.”

“Must you always be so sarcastic?!” Hyunjin growls. “Your idea didn't produce many results! Can't we just try and polish this thing and see if that gets us anywhere?!”

“By all means, knock yourself out,” Nancy lifts her hands in surrender, and Hyunjin thinks that's as close to victory as she's gonna get.

Hyunjin walks forward and sets her hand on the statue, and when she pulls it away, her palm is almost completely covered in black. She shows it to Nancy with a pout and narrowed eyes. “See? Something’s definitely wrong.”

Nancy gags and sticks out her tongue at Hyunjin’s hand, looking away and shielding herself with her hands. “F-Fine, but _you're_ dealing with it!”

Hyunjin looks down at her hand and frowns, and eventually she sacrifices her jacket to help clear the dirt off the statue. “Do you think the Game’ll reimburse me for the jacket?” she mutters as she rubs off the grime.

“This is like a dystopian nightmare, I'd say your jacket is as good as gone,” Nancy says flippantly with a wave.

Hyunjin frowns even deeper, her eyes showing a flash of sadness. “I made this myself…”

“What?” Nancy asks, unable to make out what Hyunjin said.

“N… Nothing,” Hyunjin says weakly. After a few moments, she finishes cleaning off the statue, and she steps back to join Nancy’s side, looking the statue over.

“This is what it's supposed to look like?” Nancy says. “…This is actually a pretty rad statue.”

“Yeah,” Hyunjin says flatly, looking the blue markings on the dog statue. “That's definitely not right.”

“ _Great,_ does that mean we gotta clean the graffiti too?” Nancy groans.

Hyunjin stares at Nancy after that. “Don't growl.”

“I didn't growl,” Nancy stares back. “That was actually one of my nicer complaints.”

“No, I heard you growl again,” Hyunjin says. “Stop that.”

“I'm not growling!” Nancy protests, but a louder growl cues her into what's actually happening, and she slowly looks over at the statue. The markings on it start to glow brightly, and Nancy quickly pushes Hyunjin to the side just when a wolf Daemon leaps out of the statue.

Hyunjin falls to the ground after the shove, wincing at the pain and scuffing her hands on the pavement. She opens her eyes to see how Nancy only barely manages to dodge the Daemon’s pounce, staggering on her feet. Nancy regains her balance shortly after, narrowing her eyes at the wolf and steeling herself for battle.

After activating her Electrify psych, Nancy hurriedly takes aim and fires a lightning bolt at the wolf, stunning it for a moment and allowing Nancy to create some distance between herself and the Daemon. From there, Nancy holds both hands in front of her and focuses her energy, creating a large, continuous ray of lightning to sprout from her two hands, keeping the wolf at bay as Nancy holds the attack for a handful of seconds.

Except, as Nancy grows tired from maintaining the stream of lightning for so long, the wolf can gradually push itself off the ground, no longer pinned by the electric current. Nancy drops the psych as soon as it's ineffective, and the wolf gears up to pounce once it's free to move. The pounce is quick and relentless, but not entirely unexpected, so when the wolf’s front claws threaten to tear Nancy down, Nancy can activate her Amplify psych in that split second to bolster the strength in her arms and allow her to intercept the attack. The claws raking against her, even if the light around her arms prevents her skin from being broken, causes Nancy to let out a pained gasp, but she has to keep up the defense unless she wants the wolf’s teeth any closer to her head.

Hyunjin pours all of her strength into her Animation psych to give Mr. Mew a boost in strength to attack the wolf. Except, even Mr. Mew’s increased strength can barely get the Daemon to budge off of Nancy, so Hyunjin has to resort to other measures. She’s never thrown herself into the heat of combat to fight with her own hands, but for once, she does. Hyunjin runs forward, the wolf too occupied with trying to overpower Nancy to notice, and she slams her hands into the wolf’s side and activates her Barrier psych onto the wolf, using the large shield to shove the Daemon as hard as possible. The Daemon flies back a few feet, freeing Nancy, who draws in a desperate breath of air.

Hyunjin focuses back on the Daemon with Mr. Mew, channeling her energy into her plush. Nancy focuses on the wolf too, and she clenches her fists and runs after it, her arms still alight with her Amplify psych. Nancy aims an uppercut under the Daemon’s jaw, so Hyunjin makes Mr. Mew doing the same, so the two of them both deliver harsh blows right to the Daemon’s jaw, erasing it.

Once the Daemon’s erased, Hyunjin lets out an exhausted breath and sets her hands on her knees. She notices, then, how the timer’s gone, and she closes her eyes from relief.

“We did it,” Hyunjin pants, yet her words are still relieved.

Nancy pants even harder, and she grips her arm that's the most bruised out of the two. She sinks to one knee, utterly drained from the energy required for her psychs and fairly rattled from injury. “Ugh…”

Hyunjin frowns from concern, and she moves to take a step closer to try and see what she can do to help. Nancy shakes her head and pushes her hand away, shakily getting to her feet on her own. They're not able to enjoy their cleared mission for long, before a voice disrupts them.

“Well, don’t you two look a little worse for wear!”

Nancy closes her eyes and shivers, not wanting to deal with more problems. “What now…?”

A brown haired girl with skeletal wings lands behind Nancy and Hyunjin, causing the two of them to look her way. The wings look exactly like the officer they encountered the day before, but more refined and orderly than the wings of the Reaper they encountered earlier in the day who guarded the wall.

“It's a shame you two didn't just keel over during that mission… I was banking on my Daemons erasing you so I could rack up more points!” The Reaper says with a gleeful smile.

“You must be an officer…” Hyunjin says. “Who are you?!”

“Well, if you must know, I'm Nayun! Don't go forgetting me now before I get the chance to erase you,” Nayun winks playfully at them both.

“What a character…” Nancy mutters, narrowing her eyes into a weak glare, clutching her stomach.

“Hmm…” Nayun hums, tapping her chin. She suddenly lets out a gasp, and she points her finger at Nancy. “ _You_! I have a mission for you! Nice and special!”

“Another mission?” Nancy growls. “Really?”

“Come on! Don't you want to win the Game?” Nayun smiles menacingly. “Tell you what… you clear my mission, and I'll get you out of this Game. What do you say? Do you accept my terms?”

Nancy’s eyes widen. “What…?”

“Don't do it, Nancy–” Hyunjin shakes her head. “Don't trust her!”

Nancy clenches her jaw and mulls over her options, but one thing rings clear in her mind. She wants out of this Game more than anything, and if this Reaper is really offering her her ticket out, Nancy might as well try. “I’m listening.”

Nayun’s smile grows a little while. “Perfect… The mission’s simple! Erase your partner. You have 60 seconds. You know the drill!” she winks.

Hyunjin lets out a shocked gasp. “What?! N-Nancy, don't listen to her!”

Nancy stares at Hyunjin, her expression conflicted.

Nayun just lets out a loud laugh. “Why the hesitation? You two don't look like you get along well! Just finish the job! Besides, your partner there's been a spy this whole time!”

“ _What_?!” Nancy growls, her tone dripping with venom as she looks at Hyunjin.

“S-She’s lying! I’m not a spy!” Hyunjin shakes her head vehemently. “You can’t trust a Reaper–”

“Your phone,” Nancy cuts her off. “You're always on your phone. We’re not even supposed to get reception here– so why would you be on it if you weren't a spy?!”

“Heehee, yup! That's exactly it!” Nayun says with a hum. “Now, hurry up! Clock’s ticking.”

“Nancy…” Hyunjin says weakly, seeing Nancy’s angered and determined look.

Nancy uses her Blast psych and gathers energy in the form of a sphere of light in her palm. She keeps her gaze low, but the aim of her target without a doubt is Hyunjin in front of her.

“Nancy, don’t…” Hyunjin mumbles under her breath, too tired to plead and beg. “Don't kill me…”

**Author's Note:**

> au/writing twt: mysungset  
> au/writing curiouscat: jaisy


End file.
